Torah Talk

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 15th, 2018 Deut 3:1  We made our way up the road toward Bashan [ונפן ונעל דרך הבשן] … What does it mean to go UP the road?  Rashi has the answer … or at least AN answer. This week’s handout:  44 Devarim 5778 Donate: https://www.paypal.me/mcarasik Learn Biblical […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 8th, 2018 Num. 28:7  The libation with it shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb, to be poured in the sacred precinct as an offering of fermented drink [שכר] to the LORD. 8The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, preparing the same meal offering […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 1st, 2018 Num. 28:7  The libation with it shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb, to be poured in the sacred precinct as an offering of fermented drink [שכר] to the LORD. 8The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, preparing the same meal offering […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 24th, 2018 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass.  A Tanna taught on the authority of R. Simeon b. Eleazar: אהבה מבטלת שורה של גדולה.  Love disregards the rule of dignified conduct.  [This is deduced] from Abraham, for it is written, “And Abraham rose […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 17th, 2018 Num. 21:27-30 is a poem in praise of an Amorite king, Sihon — whom Israel has just conquered!  What is this poem doing in the Bible? This week’s handout: 39 Hukkat 5778 Click here to read Liz Bloch-Smith’s article “When Did ‘Fire Go Forth from Heshbon’?” […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 10th, 2018 Num. 17:25   The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.” 26 This Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 3rd, 2018 Numbers 14 – The Israelites are told they will die in the desert and only their children will enter the land. Numbers 16 – The Korah Rebellion And in between them … a bunch of miscellaneous laws.  What are they doing there?  And why […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 27th, 2018 Num. 8:2 Moses is told to instruct Aaron, “When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.” But what does אל-מול פני המנורה really mean?  And where is the one surprising place it’s used outside of priestly literature? […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 20th, 2018 Num. 5:12 If any man’s wife has gone astray [כי-תשטה אשתו] and broken faith with him … “Going astray” is a familiar biblical topic — and so is a woman cheating on her husband.  But the verb used for it in this passage about […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 13th, 2018 Num. 3:7 They shall perform duties for him and for the whole community before the Tent of Meeting, doing the work of the Tabernacle. But how can the Tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting be the same thing when the Tent of Meeting existed — […]